Activists: Syrian strikes target refugees, kill 7

Both groups say the helicopters attacked shortly after midnight on Tuesday near the village of Shajara. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 12 people were killed, including nine children and teenagers. The Local Coordination Committees put the death toll at seven and said there were four children among those killed.

The disparate casualty figures, common in the immediate aftermath of attacks, could not immediately be reconciled. Syrian troops and rebels have been battling each other for months in the southern province of Daraa, which borders Jordan.

The conflict in Syria, which erupted in March 2011, has killed more than 160,000 people so far, according to activists.